I like this banana bread partly because it has no baking powder, which I think in the case of banana bread is too bitter. This recipe only uses baking soda and eggs for leavening and it comes out with just the right sweetness and banana flavor. It is a simple—or quick as the recipe says—and straightforward banana bread with nothing fancy, although I pumped this one up a bit with a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste in addition to a teaspoon of vanilla.

The original recipe comes from a community cookbook called Angels and Friends (1981), from a group affiliated with the Easter Seal Society in Youngstown, Ohio. I also have the second edition (1991), but used the first edition much more. It’s one of those books where members contribute recipes. I have no idea if the recipes are original or not, but I suspect they were just collected by these people or handed down in their families. Remember when there was no Internet? They list four editions of the cookbooks on their site that are apparently still available: http://www.easterseals.com/mtc/get-involved/angels-of-easter-seals-cookbooks/

The first time I made this bread, probably in the 1980s, there was obviously something wrong with it, which I figured out and fixed. Luckily I didn’t just look for another recipe—fixing it paid off. As you can see, I jotted down the fix of salt and vanilla. There are other discrepancies, so I’m guessing the author just forgot the salt, maybe assuming that you always put salt in a sweet bread. The vanilla is my own must-have ingredient. Then she lists shortening in the ingredients, but calls it butter in the instructions. Which is it? Could you use either one? Probably, but I use butter. Butter gives the bread a nice flavor without being oily, but if you like the feel and texture of a quick bread made with oil, I think you could use half butter and half oil.